Mario's Time Machine

Update: Yep, this was an April Fool's prank – not that many of your were fooled!

Original Story: Following the report from a few days ago that Nintendo is planning to bring some major Mario titles to Switch this year to mark the character's 35th birthday, we've been given a bit more information from a source familiar with the matter which suggests Nintendo is casting its net even wider than originally expected.

Our source has told us that alongside the likes of Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario 3D World, Nintendo will be bringing some of the plumber's other '90s adventures to Nintendo Switch Online. These include the SNES outing Mario is Missing!, Mario's Time Machine and the Philips CD-i release Hotel Mario. It is also believed that Nintendo is working on a brand-new title which pulls in elements of all of these games, with the current working title New Super Mario Bros. is Missing! + Bowser's Minions HD Remix.

Our source – who wishes to remain nameless – told us the following:

Nintendo has realised that consistently providing quality Mario games has led to the series becoming a little stale and tired. So, it has decided to unearth hidden gems from Mario's past to balance things out and liven things up. Those old enough to recall these 'games' will be thrilled by the immersive educational entertainment while younger players will marvel at an alternate Mario history that might have been.

Even more excitingly, it is believed that Nintendo is dusting off the unreleased CD-i titles Mario Wacky Worlds and Mario Takes America for his 35th anniversary, giving fans the chance to get their hands on two cancelled titles from the mascot's shady past.

While these hardly qualify as some of the best of the character's adventures, they're nonetheless part of his history – so it's great that Nintendo is looking to bring them back to life via the Switch.